[PICS] Brandi Carlile at CMAC in Canandaigua, New York

What a way to celebrate and close out Pride Month than to have Brandi Carlile headline a near-capacity show at CMAC this past Saturday night. Carlile has accomplished a lot since coming onto the scene with her breakthrough self-titled album in 2005. In that amount of time, she has already amassed 10 Grammy Awards. Opening the show were The Hanseroth Twins.

Multi-instrumentalists The Hanseroth Twins opened up the show and played a 25-minute set. As the twins gear up to release their first full LP on July 26, 2024, they are keeping their chops up by not only being Brandi Carlile's backing band but opening up the Carlile set as well. Songs like "Someone Like You" and "Too Late to Turn Back" were set highlights.

As Brandi Carlile took to the stage, she was in amazement of how many people were there to see her. She immediately stated that this was the biggest crowd we ever played to here. She also said they only had one more U.S. show left this summer before they headed to Europe for some dates. Carlile went right to the beginning of her career for the start of the show as they did "Follow." That was the first song she ever wrote with the Hanseroth Twins. This show was all about telling some stories on how her songs came about. For the track "Right on Time," Carlile talked about wanting to make a Laurel Canyon record that would be filled with lush harmonies. She told the story about her dad being a former alcoholic but is now been sober for the past 15 years. She said the next song was about how people didn't accept responsibility for past dealings. That song was when she went behind the piano for "That Wasn't Me." The highlight for me was "The Eye." The song came via approval by Graham Nash when she met him on a plane. She introduced herself to him and ended up sending him this song. The melodic harmonies that Carlile and the Hanseroth Twins presented on this tune were immaculate. The Hanseroth Twins took to the stage alone and did their new song that was just released in "Broken Homes." The duo Sista Strings came out to join Carlile and the twins for most of the duration of the set starting with "You and Me and the Rock." Carlile has a strong affinity of Joni Mitchell and did a cover "Casey." Carlile asked the crowd if they were ok if she went off track and did a song that she had been practicing. It was an overwhelming yes and she played the Linda Ronstadt song "Long, Long Time." After she did a bang-up job on it, she needed that reassurance from the crowd that it was good enough to keep doing. She received that in spades. Sista Strings did a strings jam before Carlile did a fun interpretation of the Queen classic "Fat Bottom Girls." Carlile closed her set with what she called a lullaby in "This Time Tomorrow."

This is the 4th time Carlile has played CMAC over the last 12 years. With this being my first time seeing her, I can see why she is a fan favorite in the area. The stories and songs made it for a wonderful Saturday evening in the Finger Lakes Region.

Setlist:

Follow
Things I Regret
The Story
Broken Horses
Right on Time
That Wasn't Me
The Eye
Mama Werewolf
Mother
Broken Homes (The Hanserorth Twins song and performed by them solo)
You and Me on the Rock
Carey (Joni Mitchell cover)
Whatever You Do
Madman Across the Water (Elton John cover)
Long, Long Time (Linda Ronstadt cover)
Sinners, Saints and Fools
The Joke
Party of One